Bestest Friends
by Anrheithwyr
Summary: Louis is worried about his cousin Lucy, who seems to be hiding something behind a smile at her father's promotion party.


_July 6, 2016_

She plucked the petals slowly from the flower, letting the shredded pieces land quietly in her lap, the taste of Butterbeer still rather heavy in her mouth. Freddie swore that, other than Firewhiskey, Butterbeer was amongst the greatest drinks that the Wizarding World had to offer.

(Lucy had had four glasses of the stuff, but even now, the flavour only made her shudder, and she couldn't quite understand Freddie's desire for the drink.)

Her dress was a pastel thing with puffed sleeves that made Lucy feel like she was something out of a nineteenth-century German faery-tale, though she did like the long skirt that stopped just short of her sandals, brown ones that almost bordered on clogs.

Molly didn't understand why Lucy would wear such a thing; "_You look like a child who doesn't know how to dress herself_," Molly had said when Lucy had picked out the ensemble nearly a month ago, but Mummy hadn't been around to do the shopping, and Aunt Ginny had told Lucy she looked cute in her bright yellow dress.

Lucy thought she was rather pretty today, her eyes giving off a certain shine, jade dragon earrings gleaming when she turned her head, and overall, Lucy was having a rather lovely time celebrating her father's recent promotion, which had now made him the newest _direct _deputy minister for Mr. Minister Kingsley, and now working as his foreign affairs assistance.

(At least, that was how Mummy had explained it when Lucy had asked what the point of this party was, if all it meant what that fancy adults showed up in fancy clothes and ate fancy foods.)

Freddie had been the one who snuck the Butterbeer to Lucy and her other cousin, Louis, at the supper table, saying that, at eleven, she was certainly now old enough to have some, though the normal age for enjoying even a glass was usually thirteen.

Freddie had also been the one who had shown Lucy and Louis the best way to hang off of a tire swing and hang over the river that ran just past Lucy's backyard, doing his best to convince the two that they ought to jump off the tire swing and enjoy themselves.

Louis was currently hanging off the tire swing, waving good-bye to Freddie, who had given up on them, scowling as he tramped back to the main party, grumbling about what children the two of them were, while Lucy admired her dress and plucked petals from flowers.

"You must be pretty proud of her dad, huh?" Louis asked, pumping his legs so that the tire rocked back and forth, nearly coasting over the edge of the river and then coming back. Louis gave her a lazy grin, his own head spinning from the rocking and the Butterbeer.

"I suppose so. It's a very important position, everyone says, and I know Daddy has been working _awfully _hard to get this promotion, though I'm not sure why I had to come to the party. _Obviously, _he'd bring Molly along. She's so pretty and smart and impressive, but I look like a little kid, still, don't I? Not very impressive, right?" Lucy gave her cousin a smile to show that she wasn't _actually _upset, though Lucy had never been that good of a liar.

"I suppose so, yeah, but at least now you get to hang out with me, right? And I'm super cool and fun, aren't I?" Louis asked, swinging out to the river, legs straightening out to show his full height. "And we got to try some Butterbeer, didn't we, as gross as it tasted."

"Mhmm," Lucy replied, but she couldn't help but look down at the ripped up flower petals in her hands anyway. She had been smiling all night, polite and happy for each of Daddy's guests, but inside, she felt just as twisted and ripped up as these flower petals. "It's been nice."

"You're upset, Lucy, I can tell," Louis said shortly, swinging forward and peering into her brown eyes. "Is something wrong? Is it the party? What's the matter, Lucy?"

"Nothing's the matter, Louis, you're being paranoid," Lucy mumbled, but she looked away, dropping the flower petals on the ground, brushing off the remains from her dress. Louis gave her a concerned look, leaping from the tire to move closer.

"I know you when you're sad, Lu, and _this _is you being sad. Please just tell me what's wrong so I can help you, please? I'm your best friend, aren't I, Lucy-Lu? _Bestest _friend, isn't that what you used to call me? Come on, tell your _bestest _friend what's wrong."

"I was seven the last time I called you that, Louis," Lucy said, laughing slightly, though it wasn't enough to make her feel better. She twisted away from her cousin once more, but he reached out, fingers wrapping around her lower jaw so that she was forced to look him in the eye.

"You were crying earlier, Lucy-Lu. Before the party?" He cocked his head, observing the barely there rings around her eyes, the still apparent tear tracks that ran down the sides of her face and pooled at the base of her ears, something he had learned happened because Lucy usually cried hanging upside down, so that it was easier to wipe away the tears.

"I _wasn't,_" Lucy insisted, pushing Louis away and wiping at her face in defiance. "_Please_, Louis, you're overreacting. I'm _fine_, everything is _fine_." She had flower petals still sticking to her pastel dress as Lucy got to her feet, pushing Louis away.

She gave Louis one more grin, an almost happy grin, like it was her birthday or Christmas or something equally happy, and for a moment, Louis doubted himself for worrying about Lucy; but in the next second, her eyes had dropped again, her smile curled downwards at the edges, and Louis knew that something was going on that Lucy just wouldn't tell him.

That hurt him, inside, because they usually told each other everything, the best of friends, since they were the closest in age amongst all the cousins. And the fact that Lucy was hiding something from him, something she was concealing, made him feel confused.

But he let her go, let her brush him away and walk away, because Lucy wouldn't stop insisting that she was fine, that nothing was wrong, and what could he do if the girl who was supposed to be his _bestest _friend wouldn't even tell him what was wrong?

"Fine," he said, waving her away, "fine, leave, I don't care. Go back to the party, maybe Freddie will give you some more Butterbeer and you'll tell all your secrets to _him _instead. See if I care."

And she kept walking, not even bothering to reply, the distance growing between them with every step; something was burning inside of Lucy and something was hurting deeply inside Louis, but they kept moving farther and farther apart until Lucy couldn't take it anymore, and she finally had to say something, anything, so that at least _someone _would understand how she felt inside, the constant feeling of burning sadness that almost seemed to be eating her up inside.

"Just so you know, I lied," Lucy said quietly, turning to look back at Louis with a sad smile. "It's nothing too important, I guess, in comparison to Daddy's promotion, but I just really wish someone had remembered my birthday as well."


End file.
